


Save Tonight

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Angst, Devotion, Established Relationship, Last Moments, M/M, impending doom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 22:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19385788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: If time could stop, they would never have to say goodbye.





	Save Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> _Takes place shortly before "Rebirth". Assumes the First Playthrough Ending (in which you can't save Sephiran)._

"I'm going," he says. "Tomorrow, I'll meet his son for the last time." Sephiran only nods, face hidden beneath the curtain of his hair. Both can feel the outcome of tomorrow's duel, but neither will speak the words. "My lord sage, I want to-"

"Don't." Sephiran's hands clasp his, tightly, as if never to let him go. "Zelgius, don't." One hand lets go only for that arm to encircle his waist, drawing him close in a silent plea. "It's still tonight...for tonight, don't think about it. Don't think about him."

"I wanted to thank you." Zelgius leans into the embrace, his eyes meeting the older man's. "For everything. For standing by me when nobody else would, for understanding me." Sephiran's arm relaxes, gentle fingers splaying across his hip. The touch is gentle, possessive, enough to almost make Zelgius reconsider tomorrow.

"I told you not to do that," he murmurs, but his tone is almost teasing. "We both promised each other we'd never be alone. All I did was keep that promise."

"Do you ever regret?" He's not sure why he asks that. "Everything you've done in her name, do you-"

"I did what I had to." His tone is cold now. "And I'd do it again. You know why, Zelgius." Indeed he does; nobody else knows who Sephiran of Persis truly is and has been all along. Sometimes it's easy to forget. "I'm much too old to regret anymore."

"Of course, my lord sage."

"Do _you_ ever regret?" Sephiran asks, brushing his bangs away from his forehead. Zelgius sighs, remembering his troubled past, his knighthood, his teacher, everything.

"Sometimes. Every now and then...it's hard to tell anymore, whether it's regret or just wishful thinking." He leans further into the embrace, face nestling in the crook of Sephiran's neck. _You are the only thing I'm certain of at this point._ "Sephiran, I-"

"Don't." Again, his tone is sharp. "There's no use in saying what I've known all along. I feel the same, Zelgius." He tightens his arm. "Tonight is ours. Please, let's not dwell on the past. Let's not think about the future. Just be with me."

They both know what tomorrow will bring. Zelgius won't return from that final battle, and Sephiran will once again be alone. At least, for a while. And Zelgius basks in the warmth of the body against his own, wishing he could tell Sephiran otherwise.

But they can only put off tomorrow for so long.


End file.
